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Linksheaven 2006 F1 Preview: McLaren

March 8th, 2006

1st annual linksheaven.com

formula 1 preview - 2006

McLaren Mercedes

Team

McLaren Mercedes

Nationality

Great Britain

Engine

Mercedes V-8

Tires

Michelin

Team Principal

Ron Dennis

Team Website

http://www.mclaren.com/

Sponsors

Johnnie Walker, Hilton Hotels, Siemans, Mobil, Henkel

2005 Results

Driver’s	2nd
Constructors	2nd

Drivers

Driver

Kimi Räikkönen

Nationality

Finland

2005 Results

2nd

Website

www.kimiraikkonen.com

Driver

Juan Pablo Montoya

Nationality

Colombia

2005 Results

5th

Website

www.jpmontoya.com

test

Driver

Pedro de la Rosa

Nationality

Spain

2005 Results

McLaren Test Driver

Website

www.pedrodelarossa.com

test

Driver

Gary Paffett

Nationality

Great Britain

2005 Results

1st / DTM (German Touring Car Masters)

Website

www.garypaffett.com

2006 Outlook

Runners up in 2005, McLaren-Mercedes undoubtedly had the fastest car last year but not the most reliable - and it cost them.
The MP4-21 chassis takes much of what worked on the MP4-20 last season, and at least in theory, improves upon it. A few changes can be found and the ever-changing understanding of the rules has forced a few more. Beyond that the new car has stuck primarily with the strengths of last seasons best car in terms of performance. While the car has shown flashes of real brilliance with Räikkönen behind the wheel in winter testing, and has set the some of the off season’s best times on a couple of occasions, its weaknesses easily match it’s number of strengths as the season nears.
The Mercedes FO 108S 2.4 Liter V8, which is all new to conform to the new engine regulations, has shown very little strength. In addition to being down on horsepower by upwards of 90 to some of it’s competitors, it has failed time after time. Despite the release of a new engine dubbed F0 108S2 (which has reportedly regained 60 of those horses) reliability still remains a question and with Mercedes chief Norbert Haug recently proclaiming they were as much as 2 months behind where they should be. One has to at least wonder how McLaren will start this new season in Bahrain. 
On the face of it McLaren’s driver line-up is the same as last years, but if you look more closely you will see that it is oh so juicy and there is so much more to it than there was last year for 3 reasons.
Firstly there is the inevitable competition between the 2 drivers knowing that Fernando Alonso’s imminent arrival is going to break up the party for the 2007 season. With this in mind, it is more important than usual that each driver beat the other. Last year the performance breakdown was 13-6 in qualifying and 10-8 in finishes to Kimi Räikkönen who also won the WDC battle 112 to 60. Walkover this year so ? Well we don’t think so. If you take the last 6 races of last year, JPM scored 2 wins and a 3rd and matched his teammate in qualifying 3-3. Kimi outscored him but it is clear to see that JPM, who remember was new to the team in ‘05, was getting to grips with his car and was almost a match for the Finn.
This year they will both start the season as McLaren veterans. Neither will have an excuse for losing to their teammate.
All of this might be moot however. If Michael Schumacher decides to retire after 2006, this frees up the most coveted seat in Formula 1 and everyone and their dog is presuming that Räikkönen is a nailed on certainty to replace the German at Maranello. Also Montoya is also rumored to have started pimping himself to every team on the grid so as to get a drive confirmed for next year. He can’t hang around to see if McLaren decide to keep him or to see if MS retires, and he rightly is sorting his future out much like Alonso decided to do earlier in the month. So it looks like McLaren have lost Montoya regardless, and if MS retires, it is expected that they will lose Räikkönen. If their cars stay as brittle as people think they are this pre-season then they’ll have no hope of keeping the Finn, but if they do show that they can win the championship then they might just have a hope and it might be Ferrari that need to shop around. All up in the air at the moment but certainly interesting times ahead. We would still expect Kimi to get the upper hand on Montoya, all things being even. However if the car turns out to be “fragile” then Kimi’s history of mechanical sympathy (or a lack thereof) might haunt him.
On the test / third driver front, 2005 McLaren tester Pedro de la Rosa remains with the team in again in 2006. de la Rosa’s partner on the testing strength at McLaren is not long time partner Alexander Wurz but Gary Paffett takes over the duties.
If testing does its job however and allows McLaren to iron out the bugs, this package should definitely be one to watch in 2006.

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Linksheaven 2006 F1 Preview: McLaren

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